| A hierachy of global spectral geophysical fluid dynamic models for simulating weather and climate is presented. (i) SAM (Shallow Atmosphere Model) is based on the shallow water equations and simulates the barotropic (vertically averaged) flow to study geostrophic turbulence and orographically forced planetary flows. ii) PUMA (Portable University Model of the Atmosphere) presents the dynamical core of an atmospheric general circulation model. It serves as a tool for idealized modelling of the atmospheric circulation. (iii) PlaSim (Planet Simulator) is a coupled system of climate components for Earth, Mars and other planets. It contains modules for the simulation of the atmosphere, ocean, sea-ice, land-ice and vegetation. The high numerical efficiency of PlaSim enables long term climate simulations. (iv) SOM (Spectral Ocean Model) is a new intermediate complexity ocean model. It solves the hydrostatic Boussinesq equations with an implicit method that allows long timesteps suitable for long term climate integrations. It is planned to couple SOM with the PlanetSimulator. The models are userfriendly and a Graphical User Interface (GUI) offers the possibility to run them interactive. |
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